Bring in your electronic devices, textiles, ceramics, neglected house plants and more to learn repair skills with expert fixers from the UCL community.
As part of the event you will be shown how to find faults, take apart and safely fix your item with support from the UCL Repair Café volunteers. With a bit of help, you will become empowered to mend your personal belongings, while learning the basics of repair and the importance of the Right to Repair. Come ready to learn!
Everyone is welcome at our free event - even if you don't have an item to repair you can come and watch things being fixed, ask repair-based questions or even get stuck into a crafty activity. The UCL Repair Café triages and advises on a wide range of items to make treasured possessions good as new - sometimes arguably better!
To drop into our various hands-on Repair Café activities between 12pm and 4pm (last entry 3:55pm) please reserve a general entry ticket. The event will feature the following activities, most of which are drop-in, but some of which require advance booking:
Textiles and Clothing
Have you got holes in your jumper, rips in your jeans, broken bags or trashed trainers? Drop-in on the team from UCL's Institute of Making for an in-person guide to fixing textiles. We will provide materials, thread, needles and pins in order for you to patch, sew or darn new life into your beloved clothes, accessories, trainers or other textile items. (Drop in)
Plant Care & Repair
Our green fingered plant experts will help with your house plant problems, if you're just getting started with caring for plants, or in need of specific help to repair, take cuttings, propagate, re-pot, bonsai, etc. (Drop in)
General repair
The technicians from the UCL MechSpace are ready to tinker on any number of objects, including small pieces of furniture, spectacles, umbrellas, jewellery... you name it, they'll take it! Using their exciting Engineering machinery and extensive problem-solving skills, your item will be in safe hands. (Drop in)
Electronics Repair (advance booking required)
Bring in your electronic device in need of fixing - from smartphones and laptops or small household appliances like toasters and lamps - for a one-to-one consultation with the repair experts from The Restart Project. (Booking a slot is required. Limited availability)
Decorative Gilded Repairs
Do you have a broken but beloved objects lying around? Beautify and celebrate the tears and breaks of your items by gilding them with the support of artists from the UCL Slade School of Fine Art and heritage conservators from the UCL Institute of Archaeology. Learn about the age-old technique of applying gold (or gold-like) materials onto wood, metal, glass, and ceramic and mend your piece with dazzling results. (Drop in)
Clothes Swap Rail
Are you in search of a new outfit that doesn’t cost the world? We will have a handy clothes swap rail for you to browse through during our Repair Cafe event! Bring in your old clothes for donation to the rail and in return, you can take home an item to refresh your wardrobe and tackle the impact of fast fashion. (Drop in)
About us
The Repair Cafe is an inter-departmental community event, sustained by expert volunteers from the UCL Conservation, Institute of Making, UCL Engagement, The Slade School of Fine Art, Mechanical Engineering Researchers Society, and Sustainable UCL.
Do you have specific access requirements? We would like to make sure that everyone can join our in-person events and use our website as easily as possible. Please message us if you need any particular support or assistance while using our space or online platforms, so we can ensure those. We are also always interested in feedback to help us improve access to our activities. Contact Sara on [email protected].